“Look!” exclaimed Joe, at last, pointing to a dead pine which had fallen against the face of the precipice and remained leaning there. “We got to climb down that tree. Come.”
He crawled forward until half of his body was over the smooth ledge, then reaching down, he grasped the topmost branch of the leaning pine and swung himself over, landing on the trunk of the tree. After that it was easy to crawl along the trunk to its roots, which rested upon more level ground. The feat was not without peril, but it was the only way out of the difficulty. Each member of the party in turn followed Joe’s example, crawling, clinging, scrambling to safety. Then they looked back at the sheer cliff and rejoiced that they had had even this chance of escape.
Another danger, however, soon became evident. They had lost their way! Wandering in the intricacies of a “windfall,” they struggled desperately with a tangled mass of broken branches and uptorn roots. After spending the greater part of the forenoon in advancing perhaps half a mile, Sam climbed a tree, gave a searching look around, and announced that he had his bearings.
The half-breed climbed up, also, and surveyed the landscape with his keen black eyes.
“Right!” he grunted positively. “Sam guess right. Joe know Pioneer Lake.”
Nevertheless, when by slow stages they approached the lake, they found they still had to traverse broad swamps. At last, they came upon the backwoods trail which had grown familiar in many stalking games and signaling tests, and all their difficulties blended into the single one of tramping for an hour or two without food on a path that was wearisomely long, though it led out of the wilderness. Presently they emerged into the open, breaking into a cheer at the welcome sight of the council-fire of Pioneer Camp.
The “mountaineers” were quickly surrounded by a mob of curious boys and bombarded with eager questions. Rawson, however, demanded water and food for the hungry travelers first of all, and not until their exhausted comrades were amply refreshed did the other Scouts beg again to hear their experiences. Then Hugh and Alec, supplemented by Billy and Sam and endorsed by Rawson, told the story of their mountain climb. When it was finished, the council-fire had crumbled into ashes, and the last sparks had died out in the light of the stars.
Another day of camp-life was ended. As the boys fell asleep, they smiled with content at their lot, and wondered what new happenings awaited them in the Land of Tomorrow, at dawn to become another Today!
That there were new and strangely unforeseen experiences before them, proof now exists, for the record may be found in “The Boy Scouts of Pioneer Camp.”